Specifier Module
      Back to home
      1. Knowledge Base
      2. Parspec Academy
      3. Specifier Module

      Product Finder 101: Create a BOM, Upload Products, Create Manufacturer Lists, and Best Practices

      Learn how to use the Product Finder to find a suitable alternate based on specs. Module Duration: 13 minutes

      Topic Module 
      Product Finder Workflow (5 minutes)

       
      Create a Bill of Materials (1 minute)

       
      Import products to your BOM (2 minutes)

       
      Create Manufacturer Lists (2 minutes)

       
      Product Finder Best Practices (5 minute read) 

      Attributes Best Practices:

      Acceptable Manufacturers: The fewer manufacturers listed, the faster the search. Spending the time to refine the list at this stage is worthwhile, especially for jobs that only accept alternates from specific manufacturers. Pro-tip - list only the manufacturers already present on the job to minimize the amount of complexity for the job. If you need help setting up your preferred manufacturers, please refer to this article. 

      Other Attributes: 

      • Enter all the acceptable values for the relevant attributes.
      • 🔐 We may suggest results that are best matches overall, but that may not match every attribute left unlocked, for hard requirements, use the attribute lock to return results strictly matching your input for a certain attribute.

      Additional Criteria Best Practices: 

      For best results, use the attributes and the additional criteria free text search in combination. Here's how to best leverage our additional criteria free search functionality:

      • Avoid filler words 
        (e.g. “I am looking for…”, “I want to find…”)
      • Separate multiple context search requirements with commas 
        (e.g. black trim, round shape, 2’) 
      • Experiment with various combinations based on the characters 
        (e.g. 2’x2’ or 2x2 or 2 x 2)
      • The more relevant context provided, the better. More information will not decrease the importance of the rest of your search, it will only supplement it and help get more relevant results.